Despite its success, a daylong MTV special on the best and worst music videos of all time, MTV's Triumphs and Tragedies, listed the song's video as one of the worst. Matthew Wilkening also ranked the song at No. 89 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, commenting that "A lot of people missed this song's subtle commentary on outdated gender roles. Well, that's because there weren't any."[4]

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"Cherry Pie" was not originally planned to be put on the album, and lead guitarist Joey Allen has stated that the album was originally going to be called Quality You Can Taste (frontman Jani Lane recalled this differently, stating that the title was supposed to be Uncle Tom's Cabin[5]). The president of Columbia Records, Don Ienner, wanted a rock anthem, so he called frontman Jani Lane (according to Lane, he wanted a "Love in an Elevator" type song), who wrote the song in about fifteen minutes. Allen stated that "the whole marketing and everything for that record changed. It was definitely driven by the label and not the band."[6] The song was written down on a pizza box which is now on display in the Hard Rock Cafe in Destin, Florida, part of the Destin Commons. The guitar solo was played by C.C. DeVille as a favor to Lane, who was a long-time friend.

Many of the band members felt that "Cherry Pie" is not one of the better songs on the album, and see the song as a double-edged sword: it brought them fame, but many of their other songs are overshadowed by the major hit. On VH1's HEAVY: The Story Of Metal episode 3: "Looks That Kill," Lane expressed his regret for writing the song, stating that "I could shoot myself in the fucking head for writing that song." However, he later clarified that he had been under personal stress at the time of the VH1 interview, and had no ill feelings towards his association with the song:[7]

Can I clear the air on that? They [VH1 producers] just caught me on a bad day. It was a bad moment—I was going through a divorce, my mom had just passed away, all this stuff was going on—and they sit me down in a chair and wanna start grilling me with questions, and I didn't wanna be there, so ... You know, push that interview to the side, I'm happy as a clam to have written a song that is still being played and still dug by so many people. It's hard enough to write a song, let alone one that sticks around.

The lyrics appear to contain many metaphorical and blatant references to sex, such as "Well, swingin' on the front porch/Swingin' on the lawn/Swingin' where we want/'Cause there ain't nobody home", and "Swingin' in there/'cause she wanted me to feed her/So I mixed up the batter/And she licked the beater". Some say the lyrics are a man bragging about his sexual exploits with a woman who is very attractive and who is the object of desire of many men. However, near the end of the song, the woman's father accidentally walks in on the pair having sex in the bathroom and immediately declares that their relationship must end: "Swing in the bathroom/Swingin' on the floor/Swingin' so hard/We forgot to lock the door/In walks her daddy/Standin' six foot four/He said you ain't gonna swing/With my daughter no more."

Warrant's lead singer, Jani Lane admitted in an interview that the song was actually about cherry pie.

After years of adamant denials to the contrary, Warrant lead singer Jani Lane finally admitted today that their hit song “Cherry Pie”, was actually about cherry pie.

The song, which was released on the 1990 album of the same title, and climbed all the way to number ten on the U.S. Hot 100, has long been regarded as veiled song that contained numerous references to sex.

For years I’ve let people believe the supposed innuendo, and that’s a burden I can no longer carry. The song ‘Cherry Pie’, was actually about cherry pie. Lane’s admission came in a tearful interview with “The Larely Weekender” in which he lamented, “For years I’ve let people believe the supposed innuendo, and that’s a burden I can no longer carry. The song ‘Cherry Pie’, was actually about cherry pie.”

The song title itself is also thought by many to be another blatant reference to sex. Here, both "cherry" and "pie" may be used sexually, as "cherry" can mean a virgin (as used in the context "pop her cherry" meaning "to take her virginity", specifically when breaking the hymen during sex), and "pie" is slang for vulva.

The video for "Cherry Pie" received heavy airplay on MTV and other music video stations. It featured the members of Warrant and a scantily clad woman (model Bobbie Brown) who is seen dancing throughout the video while the band members perform and make tongue-in-cheek references to the song's lyrics (for example, when the above-quoted line referencing baseball is sung, Bobbie appears in a form-fitting baseball uniform, complete with a bat), all against a white background.[8]

Canadian cable-TV music network, MuchMusic refused to air the "Cherry Pie" video on the grounds that it was "offensively sexist".[9]

Brown became involved with Lane soon after the video was shot, and married him in 1991.[9]

"Cherry Pie" was re-visited by the band in 1999 on their Greatest & Latest album and was released as a promo and later iTunes single[10] and was also released on several mixed compilation albums. In 2004, Lane recorded an acoustic version of "Cherry Pie", which featured on the second VH1 Classic Metal Mania: Stripped compilation.